No Secret Can Be Kept Forever
by fantasylover42
Summary: The Doctor meets someone he traveled with before, but they're more than just a former companion - But even they don't know it. What happens when the secret the Doctor has kept from them for years starts falling apart? DR is based on 10th, but not 100%
1. I've Been Here Before

"It's been a while since I've been here," the Doctor said as he stepped out of the TARDIS, glancing around, shoving his hands in his pockets and squinting into the sun. "How little changes…"

"You've been here before?" Amy asked incredulously, glancing around. "It's the middle of nowhere! Surely even any extra-terrestrial types that you chase around would steer clear of here!"

"There used to be something here. It's all sorted now, at least I hope so. Nah, I'm sure I would have heard about it if it wasn't." He glanced at her. "Everyone assumes that they only go to the big cities. Aliens like vacations too, you know. Besides, do something in the country, less witnesses."

"Someone you know live in the area or something?"

"Yep." He turned and walked down the street. "This way."

"What are we even doing here?" she asked, hurrying after him.

"I think I might have detected some alien tech." He turned off suddenly and Amy followed. "And I miss this place, there are a lot of memories."

"Doctor!"

He turned around. "What?"

Amy looked uneasy. "That wasn't me…"

"Doctor!" The voice was close, but not close enough to see who it belonged to. It was accompanied by the sound of running feet.

"Who do you suppose – "

"No way to tell for sure, but we'd best keep an eye out." He glanced around the echoey streets. "Any idea what direction it's coming from?"

"Not for sure." Amy looked around. "But if it's that loud, I don't think it'll be too long before we find out."

"Doctor! I know you're here, where are you?"

"Well whoever it is, they don't sound hostile…" Amy said uncertainly.

But something was bothering the Doctor. "Why do I feel like I know that voice? Where do I know it from?"

"Doctor! Where are you?"

"Who are you?" the Doctor called back.

"What, you aren't saying you've forgotten me already, are you?" The voice was female, and laughing. "And talking to people tends to work better when you're facing them, you know."

The Doctor whirled in a swirl of brown coat, Amy following suit. A girl stood down the road, legs apart, arms crossed, wearing a grin a mile wide.

"Oh, no way," the Doctor breathed.

* * *

A/N: WOO HOO! Doctor Who! I'll say a few more things about the idea for this in the next chapter, but for this one I have 3 things to say: 1. Sorry this first chapter is so short! 2. I'm using Amy for the companion because that's the 11thdoctor's, and I had nothing better. 3. You may be wondering, where are they? And I'm not sure yet. Maybe this will be in Britain, maybe in the US. Not sure yet. Give me your opinion, I always welcome it!

Reviews always welcome!


	2. An Old Friend

A/N: alright, just a few things i'd like to mention about this fanfic: I love to act, and this character sprung out of me thinking about what kind of a character I would love to play on Doctor Who. The plot and secret about her (you'll find out soon, I promise!) came later, but the character herself is my dream character: kind of takes-no-crap, epic, bad-ass, knows how to handle herself, and on Doctor Who(:D!), but nice and fun loving as well(but i'm not quite as old as her...). I just thought i'd tell you the origins of the character, I hope you enjoy. PS: I have the outfit I described, leave a review saying if you want to see it, i'll upload a pic to my deviantART

I don't own DW, unfortunately. Forget to say that a lot.

* * *

The girl stood, still grinning, arms crossed, as the Doctor stared at her. Amy examined her, wondering why the appearance of this newcomer had shocked the doctor so much. She wore black boots, which were slightly scuffed up. A pair of jeans encased her legs, belted with a multi-colored belt. She wore a short army-green jacket over a lime-green tank top. She looked harmless enough – until you noticed the gun handle sticking out from her boot.

The Doctor took a few slow steps toward her. "Oh... my... god..." he breathed.

"You know, maybe you'd better say my name before I think you forgot me. Honestly, I haven't changed _that_ much since I last saw you," the girl chuckled.

"Lily..." Then the Doctor ran forward and pulled the girl into a hug, twirling her around, her face bright with laughter.

Amy watched on with shock. She'd never seen this girl before in her life, and she was fairly certain that the Doctor had never mentioned her. She watched as the Doctor let her down to the ground, both of them laughing now.

"Still feisty, I see." He pulled the gun out of her boot and gave her a look of reproval. "Armed to the teeth, honestly. How necessary is that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe not completely, but both alien and human hostiles do frequent the area."

"You could have tried to contact me!" He looked a bit indignant.

She smirked. "They're not too bad, and we're big boys and girls, we can take care of ourselves," she teased. She glanced over at Amy and grinned again. "But what happened to your manners?"

"What?" He glanced at her, confused.

"Your friend. You haven't introduced us yet." She smiled warmly at Amy.

"Oh! I can't believe I forgot!" The Doctor's eyes widened comically. He beckoned to Amy, who came over, still a bit wary. "Come on, you don't need to be scared. Lily, this is Amy, my current companion. Amy, Lily."

"Charmed," Amy said, still a bit reserved.

The girl was still smiling. Did she ever not smile? "You don't trust me yet, do you?"

"Not exactly," she admitted.

"Well, I'm sure the Doctor will win you over, but if he doesn't, I'll do my best to," she laughed.

"I'm sure you will," she replied, starting to smile despite herself.

"Don't worry, Lily, it's nothing personal," the Doctor interjected. "Amy is always a bit wary when meeting new people. Can be quite useful, but unnecessary at times." He turned to Amy. "I assure you that Lily can be trusted."

"Well, maybe I'll have an easier time believing you if you tell me how you know each other," she said wryly.

Lily laughed. "Yeah, that would probably help, wouldn't it?"

The Doctor laughed along. "Lily used to travel with me," He explained. "And her mother traveled with me previously, although briefly."

Amy was shocked for the upteenth time that day. "Wait – she traveled with you?"

The Doctor seemed confused by her surprise. "Yes..."

She turned to Lily. "How old are you?"

Lily looked just as confused as the Doctor. "I'm sixteen, almost seventeen."

"And how long ago did you travel with him?"

"About two years."

"Where are you going with this, Amy?" The Doctor was still extremely confused.

"I'm just surprised that you'd have such a young companion." She raised her eyebrows. "Didn't anyone else think it was odd when you showed up with a kid? No offense," she said, holding a hand out to Lily.

"None taken."

"Nah, there were no problems," The Doctor shook his head. "She's more brilliant than a lot of the older people around."

"Hmm." Amy looked at Lily skeptically. Why would the Doctor take someone so young as a companion?

Lily's smile disappeared. "You don't think a kid could be that smart? You don't think a _kid_ is worthy enough of being the Doctor's companion?" Her voice wasn't menacing, just sad, as if she was being told something she'd been told too many times before.

Amy hesitated. "I'm sure you are, I've just never come across anyone your age that I would consider..." She struggled, but when she couldn't find a better word, used the one that Lily had used, grudgingly. "_Worthy_ of being the Doctor's companion."

Lily smiled again, a little more reserved. "Hopefully I'll change that." She turned to the Doctor again, and said, "I should probably get back. Will you guys come and be our guests for dinner?"

"Well..." The Doctor looked uncertain.

"Oh, come on, Doctor. You know you want to. Besides, Mum'd be over the moon if she saw you again! And maybe," she laughed, "you could even arrange that literally!"

The Doctor snorted in amusement. "Alright, fine. That is, if it's fine with Amy." He turned to her. "Amy, what do you think?"

"Sounds great," she said, smiling. And she meant it. For one, she felt bad that she had offended the girl, and for another, she was eager to find out more about her and figure out why she was so special. The girl intrigued her, and she had a pretty good feeling that there was something the Doctor wasn't saying...


	3. Home for dinner?

A/N: Hey everyone. Yeah I did warn you that I don't update super regularly, didn't I? If I didn't, whoops. I had a little time and the idea for this chapter, so I managed to get it done, but be warned: all this week and next i'm crazy busy with school musical, so don't be expecting anything for a bit. I got this chapter and the next done because I had the ideas for both of them (actually, I wrote the next chapter a while back...... :P) but just thought i'd let ya know, bye!

p.s: I know nothing EXTREMELY interesting happens in this chapter, but it was kinda necessary, and I had fun writing it :) cheers!

* * *

Amy walked a few strides behind Lily and the Doctor, feeling it was proper to let them have this time to catch up by themselves. They talked and laughed as if they'd never been apart, and Amy still found herself wondering what this girl was to the Doctor, and couldn't help feeling a bit jealous of the easy way they acted around each other.

Lily led them to a decent-sized white house with a red roof. She gave a conspiratorial grin to the two of them and then opened the door, which swung open with just a slight creak.

"Mum! I'm home!"

"I'm in the kitchen, darling!"

Lily motioned them into the house. "I've brought visitors," she called out. "And you'll know one of them! You'll never guess who!"

"If you've brought that boy home again..." A woman turned the corner, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She trailed off as she saw them. She stared. The Doctor smiled and waved.

"Hello, Rebecca!" He said brightly.

"D-doctor?" She looked a bit more than a little surprised. There was a moment of tension as everyone froze, and then she took a few hesitant steps forward before the Doctor strode over to her and let her fling her arms around him.

"I'm giving a lot of hugs today," he chuckled. Amy noticed how his face softened when he looked at the woman as he released her from the hug.

"I thought it would be alright to invite them for supper," Lily grinned.

"Of course. And who's this?" Rebecca smiled softly, turning to Amy. She seemed much more reserved than her bubbly daughter, although just as kind.

"Second time he's forgotten to introduce me today," Amy smirked. "Forgetful, isn't he?"

"Oi, I have a lot of information I need to remember, I'm allowed to forget a few things occasionally!" the Doctor said defensively. "Besides, I was getting 'round to it!" He turned back to Rebecca. "This is Amy, my current companion."

"Lovely to meet you," Rebecca said, extending her hand with a smile. Amy took it and shook it warmly. She somehow found her much easier to trust from first sight than her daughter. She turned and began walking back down the hall. "You three had better get cleaned up," she called over her shoulder. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." She paused and turned, smiling. "Lily, show them to the bathroom. I'm sure you can all share the sink to wash your hands, and Doctor, don't act like too much of a child.

Lily and Amy shared glances and snickers as the Doctor protested, "Hey!"

Shaking her head and laughing, Rebecca walked back to the kitchen. Lily beckoned to the other two with a wave of her hand. "Follow me, then. Mum's a stickler for clean hands before meals."

They followed her down the hall. She turned to the left and opened a door. Behind the door was a fairly large but simply decorated bathroom. There were two sinks, so the Doctor used one while Lily and Amy shared the other. Lily picked up some hand towels out of a basket on the floor and tossed one to each of them before taking one for herself. "Dry your hands, then, and let's go see if my mum needs any help finishing up."

She led them to the kitchen. Rebecca was bustling around, finishing up the meal. She had a nice bowl that she was pouring steaming spaghetti into, while a pan of sauce boiled on the stove. A table sat in an area a few yards away from the stove, several windows on the wall showing a pond with ducks and sparrows around the perimeter.

"I hope you're not going to any trouble on our account," the Doctor said. Startled, she looked up and smiled when she saw them standing in the doorway.

"No, don't worry."

"Could we help with anything, Mum?" Lily asked.

"Well, I don't think our guests need to do anything, but could you set the table, sweetheart?"

"Sure."

Amy didn't want to stand just feeling awkward and useless, so she said, "Really, ma'am, it's no problem, we do like to be helpful."

"Well, alright then. And you can call me Rebecca, you don't have to call me ma'am." She offered the bowl of spaghetti to her. "If you could put this on the table, then?"

"Absolutely." She walked over to the table, and once she had carefully placed the steaming bowl on the table, proceeded to help Lily distribute the silverware.

"Doctor, do you think you could put some lettuce in a bowl? It's in one of the drawers in the refrigerator, and there's a bowl here," she said, lifting it up. She turned back to the stove and turned off the tomato sauce, pouring it into a small bowl and handing it to Lily as she and Amy came back. "Onto the table, please. Amy, would you mind grabbing salad dressing out of the fridge? Top shelf, just grab all of them that you can see."

"Rebecca, do you want anything else in the salad? Because there are tomatoes and cucumbers in here as well," the Doctor called over his shoulder as he stood in front of the open refrigerator.

"Not in the salad, but in side dishes, here are a few," Rebecca replied, pulling shallow patterned glass bowls out of a cupboard. "And don't leave the fridge open."

"Seems like extra work, why not just put them into the salad?" the Doctor asked as he stepped aside to let Amy grab the salad dressing.

"Because Lily hates tomatoes, and she puts up a fit if she gets so much as a drop of tomato juice on even one of her leaves of lettuce."

"That's an exaggeration, Mum!" Lily said indignantly.

The Doctor turned to Lily. "Why don't you like tomatoes?" he asked incredulously.

"Why don't you like pears?" she shot back.

He shrugged, smirking. "Touche."

"I just don't like the taste of them, that's all there is to it."

"So... don't you like spaghetti sauce?"

"No, I love spaghetti sauce! When tomatoes are processed into something, it's fine, it's just raw that I don't like them."

The Doctor shook his head, confused. "You're a very strange girl, Lily."

"I thought we'd established that," she laughed. "But how can you understand all those complex scientific theories but the concept that someone doesn't like a certain kind of food but it's fine when cooked or processed eludes you?"

"Humans," he shrugged. Lily laughed again.

"Alright, you lot, to the table, sit down so we can eat!" Rebecca exclaimed, ushering them to the table.

They all sat down and began to eat. There were many announcements of how wonderful the food was before they could get any real conversation in.

"So, what are you doing letting your daughter traipse around the place armed to the teeth, Becca?" the Doctor asked, disapproval evident in his voice.

"Well, she's incorrigible, isn't she?" Rebecca didn't seem overly pleased with her daughter's choice of accessory either. "But there are times when it's necessary."

"How could that be necessary?"

"Doctor, the aliens don't always just disappear with you. They come back." The Doctor opened his mouth to interrupt, but Rebecca held up a hand and he closed it again. "They're not too dangerous, we can handle them. But if we didn't use any weapons, then they would be."

The Doctor nodded his head, resigned. In a moment, his face brightened with a mischievous smile. "So what was this business with a boy?"

Rebecca smiled back. "Lily's boyfriend."

"MOM! He is NOT my boyfriend!" Lily shrieked with a tone of voice that indicated that this had been discussed many times before.

The rest of the meal and the after-meal clean-up passed in comfortable banter, but Amy felt like the Doctor desperately wanted to talk to Rebecca alone, although she wasn't entirely sure why. So as she helped Lily dry the last of the supper dishes, she decided to give him the chance. "Hey, Lily, do you think you could show me around outside? Then while we talk, these two can have their special grown-up talk," she said with a wink.

"Ugh, must they always look down on those younger than them?" Lily rolled her eyes despairingly. "Alright, sure." But she was looking at Amy strangely as they walked out into the inky night, leaving the Doctor and Rebecca in the kitchen to conversations of their own.


	4. Starry, starry night

"Well, that about does it," Lily said as she finished up the "tour". "Here, let's sit down for a bit." She gestured to the swing bench on the porch.

Amy and Lily sat down on the bench, staring up at the start-scattered sky. Lily smiled. "Weird to think we've been up there, isn't it?"

"Mmhmm." Amy looked up, locating the constellations she'd been taught as a child, as well as things the Doctor had pointed out to her.

"Why are you doing this?" The sudden outburst startled Amy, and she looked at the youger girl in shock. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that harsh. What I meant," she clarified, "was why did you say that you wanted to talk to me? Because I know you didn't have a sudden wave of trust."

"For one thing, I wanted to give your mom and the Doctor a chance to catch up and talk – without other people in the room. Also, I wanted to learn more about you. I really do want to trust you," she stressed, pleading with her eyes. "It's just… when I was younger, I didn't live in the best part of town, so I learned to be suspicious of anyone I met, making them prove they could be trusted. It was sort of a survival instinct," she said, smiling ruefully. "I was hoping this," she said, gesturing to the two of them with her hand, "talking, would help me trust you more."

"Ah. That makes sense. And sometimes it's good to be suspicious, because sometimes even those who you thought you could trust betray you." She smiled. "Not saying that I would!"

"I hope not," Amy laughed.

"So, what do you want to know?"

Amy stared into the sky again, as if searching there for the answers to begin. "So… this house… Have you lived here your whole life?"

"Most of it." Lily nodded. "We did live somewhere else for a few years when I was little, but I can hardly remember it, and now I'm so attached to this place that I kind of don't ever want to leave."

"Your mother… you live with her. But where's your father?"

Lily's face didn't change. "My father's gone."

Amy needed to ask. "Gone… dead? Or just gone… left?"

Lily smiled. "Gone dead."

Amy wondered how she could smile while talking about that. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." Lily shrugged. "He died before I was born. I don't miss him, because I can't really miss someone I never knew, can I?" She smiled softly. "I accepted the fact a long time ago, and Mum's good enough to make up for not having a dad."

"Can I ask… how?" Amy knew she would know what she meant.

"Not exactly sure… Mum's kind of vague about it. I think he was… a policeman?" She thought. "Or maybe in the army. I'm not sure, something like that. There was some sort of accident, and he was just gone."

"How'd your mum take it?"

"Well obviously I wasn't there, but I think she took it pretty hard. I mean, there aren't any pictures of him, and she tries to change the subject whenever I ask about him." She frowned. "It's weird, though. Sometimes it doesn't seem like she's sad…" She shook her head. "I don't know, I still don't like to press the issue."

Amy nodded. "Completely understandable." She paused for a moment, then asked, "What about your mother? How did she get involved with the Doctor?"

"You know, I'm not sure how they met. But the Doctor wanted to take her on as a companion, took her for a few trips. But Mum left."

Amy looked at her, surprised. "Left?"

"Yeah. She said something like she felt like there was too much too fast, and she couldn't handle it all." Lily smiled. "Which I get, it is pretty overwhelming at first, isn't it?"

"It sure is," Amy agreed fervently.

"But Mum still thought the world of him," Lily said, staring at the sky again. "Told me all about this man who had given her adventures, and showed her that she could live her life in a different way. She always told me that he changed her life." She turned her head toward Amy. "She's been telling me about him for as long as I can remember."

"But what about you? How did you get involved with the Doctor?"

"He came back and asked me to travel with him."

Amy was shocked. "Just like that?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes I get the feeling that Mum had asked him to, but I wonder."

"So he just showed up and asked you to travel with him?" Amy didn't know what to think. The Doctor didn't chose companions like that. He just didn't. There had to be some even that happened first to expose it all. Was it just because the girl's mother had been a companion? Somehow she doubted it. There was a piece missing from the puzzle, and if she could just find it, the puzzle would be complete and the picture would make sense.

A/N: OHHHHHHHH cliffy...... but not really :) so has anyone figured out the secret yet? I tried not to make it too obvious, but subtlety isn't really one of my strong points.... Review if you think you know!


	5. What's a kiss between friends?

The Doctor leaned against the counter, smiling as he watched Rebecca bustling around the kitchen, doing tasks that really didn't need doing. It reminded him of old times, when she used to get nervous. It was the same sort of things: anything that kept her hands busy and distracted her.

"Tell me, Rebecca, how've you been?"

"I'm fine. Not getting any younger, but I'm fine."

"You're not that old. Especially when you compare yourself to me," he joked.

She smiled softly. "No, I suppose not." She continued doing little tasks, arranging the fruit in the bowl, folding towels, wiping down counters.

The Doctor pushed his weight off of the counter, walked forward, and closed his hands gently around her wrists. "Leave it."

"But-"

"Leave it. The kitchen's clean enough, and even if it wasn't, I'm sure it could wait until later. I want to talk to you."

She hesitated, and then nodded. "Alright, sure. Why not." She stood, facing him. "You and I, talking. Brings back memories. We've talked so many times. About important things, about little nothings." She was babbling, another sure sign she was nervous.

The Doctor smiled. "I think all of it was important, because talking is important."

"You always did like talking."

"And they always say it's the women who talk too much," he laughed.

"Well, Doctor, you're one of a kind." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Tell me honestly, Rebecca. How've you been?"

"I'm fine! Honestly, I'm fine. Why, how am I supposed to be?" she asked a bit exasperatedly.

The Doctor sighed and smiled. "Fine then. How's Lily?"

"What, you mean that ray of sunshine?" she laughed. "You know her, almost nothing gets her down." She paused a moment before adding, "She misses you, though."

"I miss her as well." He hesitated. "Do you miss me?"

She looked at him, eyes melting. "You know I do. I've missed you since the first time I left."

"You could always come back, you know."

She shook her head. "The reasons I left still stand, Doctor. Besides, I have a life here now. Lily's no longer a child, but she still needs her mother around. And we're in charge around here, in a way, so we couldn't both leave."

"What do you mean, in charge?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

"Well, I told you about the aliens."

"I think that would be a loose definition of told. So please," he leaned back against the counter again, spreading his arms, "elaborate."

Rebecca examined her hands, searching for the words to begin. "It's... it's really not as serious as it sounds. Mostly non-hostiles, but we get enough traffic for it to be practical to have at least a semi-organized team to handle it. It wasn't as if Lily and I planned to be in command, but of all the people we got together, we had the most knowledge of extra-terrestrials. Thanks to you, I might add," she said, smiling.

"Yes, but why would you let her carry a gun around?"

"The gun you saw her with today is the only one I let her carry with her at all times. Here, I have one just like it," she said, reaching into a drawer and pulling it out. She handed it to the Doctor, who began examining it as she went on. "It's not a gun for killing, simply a tranquilizer. I don't like to let her have lethal weapons, but neither is it prudent to let her go completely defenseless seeing as what shows up around here. The tranquilizer allows her enough time to get away if she encounters anything hostile. It's been enhanced with rapid fire and easy reload, in case of a large number."

He handed the gun back to her. "Adapted from alien tech. I'd almost forgotten how brilliant you are." He smiled. "Glad to know that you don't let her walk around with a deadly weapon."

"She's smarter than that too, you know."

"Of course I know. She got good genes. Like I said, you're brilliant."

"She didn't get too many bad genes from her father either." She said softly.

He shook his head. "Let's not get into that."

Rebecca looked at him for a moment without saying anything, and then put the gun back in the drawer. "Fine then." Another moment of silence passed before she continued. "But anyway, we have a small stock of weapons here at home, in case for some reason we can't get to the base to arm ourselves, and a larger, more public arsenal at the base. But I try to enforce the general rule of only tranquilizers when out on runs unless we know for certain it's hostile. At the very most, usually, I let one person in a group carry a gun that could kill someone."

"Such cheerful topics," he laughed quietly. "So, you still haven't found anyone to replace Lily's father?"

"You know there's never been anyone else. It wouldn't feel right."

"You've never thought that maybe it's time to move on?" His voice was strained.

"Maybe I thought that I should, but I know that, rationally, it's doubtful that I ever will."

The Doctor finally took the initiative to do what he had wanted to do since he entered the house. He leaned forward, cupped Rebecca's face in his hand, and gently kissed her on the mouth. It was so sweet, so gentle, so… familiar. He leaned back, smiling, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"I think that's what I've missed most." Rebecca whispered, staring into his eyes.

They gently embraced, totally oblivious of Amy watching them, thoughts whirling in her head as the last pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

**A/N: yeah, this chapter could have been done a while ago, and I still don't really like how it turned out, but... *shrug* what're you going to do? Now I know this ended with a lot of unresolved questions, and i'll answer any that I know that I came up with, and if there's a question you didn't have answered in the next few chapters (I really don't know how much longer this is going to be...) then please ask in the review and i'll make sure I answer it, whether in the review or in the story. I think that's it. Until next time! Oh, wait. If you don't know the secret yet – you should, hints aren't so subtle anymore, but if you don't – it will be said explicitly in either the next chapter or the one after. Cheers!**


	6. Why haven't you told her?

Amy leaned against the wall in the hallway, arms folded across her chest. She heard the Doctor and Rebecca's voices, but not their words, and then heard a chair pushed back across the wooden floor. The Doctor walked out and saw her leaning there.

"Oh! There you are. I was just going to find you. Rebecca's offered to let us stay the night, she says she has some extra rooms, so if you're interested?" he asked as Rebecca walked up behind him.

Amy glanced at Rebecca before shrugging and saying, "Fine. But we'll need to get some stuff out of the TARDIS, won't we?"

"Oh." He nodded. "Of course." He turned to Rebecca. "We'll be back in a flash, yeah?"

She smiled and lifted her hands, gesturing slightly in a shooing motion. "Go on, then."

The Doctor nodded and made his way to the door. "Let's go then, Amy."

Amy followed the Doctor out and they walked down the street. The Doctor said, "Nice night, isn't it?" Amy made a small, non-committal noise in the back of her throat. "Rebecca and Lily are nice, aren't they?" he tried again. All he got this time was a shrug. "Alright, what have I done now," he said exasperatedly.

"Lily…"

"What about her?" he asked, surprised.

"Why haven't you told her that you're her father?"

The Doctor's expression went blank and slightly hard. They walked on silently for a few moments, Amy studying his face. Then he whispered, "What are you talking about?"

"She said her father died, but there are no pictures of him, and her mother avoids the subject of him, almost as if she's avoiding something. And not as if she's sad. And then your display with Rebecca back there helped me connect the dots."

"What display?" he asked indignantly.

"You kissed her," she said simply.

He looked away, avoiding her gaze. "You weren't meant to see that."

"I didn't mean to!" she exclaimed. "I was coming to find you. Besides, you weren't exactly in a secretive spot," she pointed out. "Good thing Lily wasn't around, then you'd have some explaining to do."

They had made it to the TARDIS. The Doctor unlocked the door and stepped inside. "So? Why?"

"It was easier."

"How is it easier to lie to your child about who her father is?" She looked at him. "I don't get it, Doctor. Why? Explain it to me."

"She's safer not knowing." He still wouldn't meet her eyes.

"And she wouldn't be safe if she knew?"

"It would increase the risk." He finally met her gaze. "I've been a lot of places, and naturally not everyone I meet agrees with me. I've made quite a few enemies, people who want me dead. And I think they'd be willing to take or hurt anyone close to me to get at me." He gazed up at the ceiling, looking as if he was going to cry. "And my daughter… if they hurt my daughter… The bond between a parent and a child is a strong thing in any culture, and a child would be the best ransom, the best tool of manipulation. I can't tell her I'm her father."

"But, but you're a Timelord!" she said excitedly. "What if you passed on something that could help her defend herself?"

"I don't even know how close to a Timelord she is," he replied quietly. "And my main defense mechanism is my regeneration. That plus my brain gets me out of a lot of scrapes." He shook he head. "Being part Timelord just makes her that much more valuable to anyone without honest intent. We're a dying breed."

Amy stayed silent for a moment. She finally whispered, "What was it about Rebecca? What made you fall in love with her?"

The Doctor half laughed before looking miserable again. "It was never supposed to happen. But she was so clever, so beautiful. Such a special person. A lot like Rose, in so many ways, but completely different at the same time." He leaned against the wall of the TARDIS. "One night, that's all it took. A bit too much champagne, a few bad decisions." He shrugged. "That's all it took for her to leave."

"But why-?" Amy's expression changed as the obvious dawned on her. "She left because she was pregnant."

"It was pretty obvious to both of us whose the baby was." His eyes were dark. "She panicked. She decided she needed to get away from it all, and that she needed to sort things out in her head. So she left. She never came back. I still heard from her now and again, though." He stared up at the ceiling. "But I didn't see her again until she told me that she thought I should get to know Lily, and that I should take her traveling with me."

"She wanted you to spend time with her?"

"Sure, why wouldn't she?" He shrugged. "She didn't leave because she didn't want me to have anything to do with our child, really, she left because she was confused about a lot of things, and needed to sort it out. And we decided together that it was better for me to stay away and to not tell Lily the truth about her father."

Amy was still sorting out everything in her mind. "So… you agreed to bring her with you?"

"I wanted to see her. There actually was one time when I'd seen her before, I'd popped by the house and looked in the window. I didn't say anything to Rebecca about it, I was worried she might have a fit," he smiled, "but I wanted to see her. I was more than happy to have the chance to actually meet my daughter."

"You didn't officially meet your daughter until she was fourteen," Amy said incredulously.

"It could have been less than fourteen years for me, time machine and all that, but even if it was the full fourteen years, that's hardly anything for me."

"And Lily? She obviously doesn't travel with you anymore, what happened there?"

He smiled with a hint of sadness. "She was only fourteen. She has her entire life ahead of her. She still has school, exams, going to pointless parties with friends, school crushes, all of that to go through yet." He looked away eyes roaming around the TARDIS. "Traveling the stars is wonderful, and I know she loved it, but she knew she should finish school. She knew she should go back home. And so she asked me to bring her back home, and said, 'Maybe someday we'll travel together again.' And I hope we do."

"Do you ever regret the decision to not tell her you're her father?" Amy asked gently.

The Doctor didn't answer for a moment, staring down at his feet. Finally, he looked up, and his eyes were shiny with moisture. "Of course I do. She grew up without a father because I made that decision. I didn't get to see her grow up because I made that decision. But I still think it was the right choice to make. Especially when I think about all the things kids her age go through," he chuckled, although he still had tears in his eyes. "What boy advice could an alien give a human girl? That's not really my area of expertise."

"You miss her, don't you." It wasn't a question.

He looked up again, hopelessly. "Every day. But I can't let her have my life. I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to her. She deserves to experience everything here on earth before she has to make a decision of what she'll do." He shook his head slightly. "I don't want to maker her travel with me when she could find something she liked more here."

Amy reached out and grabbed the Doctor's hand, squeezing it gently. "She'll come back. I'm sure she will." They stood there a moment, just holding hands, until Amy took her hand back and said, "But we'd better get our stuff together and get back up to the house before Rebecca wonders what's become of us."

A little while later, the Doctor and Amy were back inside the house, being shown to their rooms by a cheerful Rebecca and acting like nothing had happened.

* * *

**A/N: So. I know the whole Doctor's daughter thing isn't exactly original, but there is a bit of a twist in that this was a human he fell in love with and had his daughter with, whereas Jenny was sort of… created rather than born. Also, the character of Lily was created first, and the plot came later, so yeah. Also, I have no idea where this story is going, really; I haven't thought it through that far. There might just be some filler chapters before anything really interesting happens, because while I have a vague idea of some eventual happenings, they still need to be developed and I still need to get there. But hopefully I will be able to carry on and people will continue to like it. YAY.**


	7. Kitty Wakeup Call

The Doctor woke up to slight scratching noises at his door and a whispered voice. "Smokey, come here, girl. Smoke! No!"

The Doctor kept his eyes closed. A moment later, four points of weight pushed into him through the blanket and moved up towards his head. He slowly opened his eyes to see a furry face with two curious eyes peering at him from an inch away, whiskers twitching. He groaned quietly, causing the tabby cat to jump back in alarm.

"Why is it always cats? Why do I never see dogs?" He glanced to the doorway to see Lily sheepishly peering around the door frame.

"Sorry... Your door must have been ajar, she just pushed it. I didn't expect it to open," she said as she waked in and scooped the cat into her arms. The cat squirmed and Lily allowed her to jump to the ground, where she promptly sat and cocked her head inquisitively at the Doctor. Lily laughed.

"I think she likes you. Or, who knows, maybe she just thinks you're weird." She crouched next to her and began to pet her. "Her name's Smokey, by the way." Smokey continued to stare at the Doctor.

"You look kind of intelligent," he said, staring back. "You know, in a not me kind of way. Because you're... you know... a cat." The explaining sentence, which had begun hastily, quickly lost momentum. Lily rolled her eyes.

"You're just prejudiced. Not everyone can be as intelligent as you. Besides, cats are very intelligent animals." Smokey looked up and Lily and meowed, as if on que. She laughed. "See?"

"Yeah, well, if so many people have dogs, why do I never see any of them?" the Doctor grumbled.

"Somehow, if you had time for a pet, I think you'd be more of a cat person," Lily said thoughtfully.

"What makes you say that?" he asked a bit indignantly.

"I don't know," she replied, studying him. "I just can't really see you with a dog. Even though your personality is probably closer to one," she chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Does the word overexcited mean anything to you?" she laughed.

"I do not get overexcited!" he exclaimed, annoyed.

She picked up Smokey again, still laughing. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say." She walked to the door and called over her shoulder, "Mum's making breakfast, so you might want to get up if you're hungry at all."

The Doctor groaned and rolled over, burying his face in the pillow. He didn't want to get up. He realized he was sort of acting like a little kid, but the bed was too comfortable for him to really care. He rolled over again, sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He heard a gentle thump in the hall and then the sound of claws on wood followed by footsteps he assumed were Lily's. He got up and got into a semi-respectable state.

By the time that he got to the table, Amy was already there, eating with Lily as Rebecca finished cooking. He couldn't help snickering as he pulled up a chair and sat at the table. Amy glared at him.

"Don't laugh. I couldn't find a brush." Her untamed hair gave her a wild appearance, and with the glare she actually looked quite intimidating.

"Fine!" he said, holding up his hands as if in surrender as Rebecca came and slid two pancakes onto his plate. "Thanks," he said gratefully as he realized how hungry he was.

" You're welcome." Rebecca smiled and headed back to the stove.

"Syrup, juice, sausage." Lily listed the items as she pushed them over to the Doctor. "Maple sausages too, they're delicious!"

"The pancakes aren't half bad either," Amy commented before she brought another forkful up to her mouth.

"Thank you, Amy!" Rebecca called from the stove. She finished frying the last pancakes and brought them to her own plate, before untying her apron, hanging it on the back of her chair, and sitting down to enjoy the meal with the rest of them.

"So, Doctor, how long are you staying?" Lily asked eagerly.

He shrugged as he chewed. When he swallowed, he said, "Not sure, really. We don't have an agenda or anything, I guess a lot of it depends on when Amy or I decide we've overstayed our welcome, or when you or Rebecca get sick of us and decide to kick us out." He smiled and took a sip of his juice.

"So, what're you going to do while you're here?"

"Lily, you know me. I never have an exact plan, especially on a spur of the moment landing." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "I guess I'll just let something happen, that always seems to work."

"Would you like to see the base?"

"The base?"

"Yeah, you know, the one Mum and I run!" She grinned. "We may not be quite as knowledgeable as you in alien stuff, but I think we've done a pretty fair job."

The Doctor turned to Amy. "What do you think?"

"You're the boss, but it's fine by me."

He nodded to Lily. "The base it is, then."

"All right!" Lily leapt up from the table.

"Sit down and finish your breakfast properly!" Rebecca chided. "The tour can wait until after you've eaten." Lily sat down sheepishly and Rebecca rolled her eyes at Lily and the Doctor.

Once everyone finished eating, Lily went off with Amy to try to find her a brush. The Doctor opted to stay and help Rebecca clean up from breakfast. As they were finishing up, he said quietly, "Amy knows."

Rebecca looked at him sharply. "You told her?"

"No, she figured it out." He smiled. "She's no slouch in the brains department, either."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she asked, "What do we do?"

"We just take each day one step at a time, just like we always have."

* * *

**A/N: Wow. That was a weird place to end the chapter. I'm sorry. I don't know why, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Why did I have such a hard time wrapping up this chapter???**

**Anyways, I love the beginning of this chapter! It popped into my head a while ago and when I wrote it down I was practically giddy. I especially love when the Doctor is talking to the cat, because I can SEE the 10th Doctor saying that, and I can hear it as well XD**

**I love you when you review.**


	8. The Base

The Doctor and Amy followed Lily and Rebecca as they walked into the medium-sized building which Lily had identified as "base". A man looked up from what the Doctor gathered was the front desk as they walked up.

"Morning, Dan!" Rebecca said cheerfully as she swiped her security pass. He smiled and nodded back in return.

"Step in here, please." He gestured to what looked like a tiny metal closet. Rebecca walked inside without hesitation. The Doctor glanced at Lily questioningly.

"It's technology that enables us to see whether a person is actually who they say they are, or an alien wearing a shimmer or some such. We need two visitor passes, Dan."

"That will wait until after you've been checked. You know that, rules and regulations."

Lily rolled her eyes as her mother walked back out to them. "Yeah, fine, whatever." She walked into the box and out again a moment later. "Happy now?"

"They have to be checked too, sweetie," Rebecca said.

"One quick question: it's just set to detect shimmers, it isn't harmful to non-humans, is it?" the Doctor asked.

"No, of course it's not harmful to non-humans," Dan replied, confused.

"Good," the Doctor answered cheerfully and bounced into the box. Dan stared after him, his mouth hanging open.

"Is he an alien?"

"Yes, Dan, he is. Now do the scan so that he can get out of there," Rebecca said exasperatedly.

After they were all checked, Dan handed over two visitor passes. "Wear these at all times," he cautioned. "If you take them off you could get thrown out. But these passes will authorize you to almost any employee accessible area, although I'm guessing any place it doesn't get you into these two can." He nodded toward Lily and Rebecca.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Rebecca. "You guys really do run the place, don't you?"

She smirked. "We do our best."

"Well, what about Lily? How does she handle this and school?" he asked argumentatively.

"It's easy. Right now it's summer, so I can spend as much time as I want here. And during the school year, I go to school during the day, and if they need me here or if I need help on my homework, I come to the base after school." Lily grinned. "Don't worry, I've been plenty responsible. You don't have to nag me for me to remember to do my homework. I got through school with great grades, except for German," she said, wrinkling her nose. "The teacher there can be completely unfair."

The Doctor turned to Rebecca. "Opinion from a mother?"

"Do you really think I would let her come here if she wasn't keeping up with her responsibilities?" Rebecca looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Point taken." He raised his arms in surrender. "So, you going to show us what you've done with the place?"

"Let's go."

"We'll go to the research room first," Lily said excitedly.

Rebecca slid her security pass through a slot next to double doors, and opened the right one. "After you," she said with a flourish.

They walked into a room which was reminiscent of a high school computer lab. Lily stepped forward in full professional mode – with a little joking.

"We have access to most Torchwood software and archives – with permission, naturally. We also have the computer essentials – a word processer, power point software, and paint. Oh, and HALO for target practice." She grinned at them. "We do have some paper archives, but most of it is either on or is in the process of being transferred to the digital archives. Any employee has access to any of these computers at any given time unless given different instructions by us."

The Doctor sat down at one of the computers, opened some software, and experimentally tapped some keys. "This software is fantastic!"

"We've got a couple people who are pretty good with technology, they made some adjustments and upgraded the software we already have, now we've got some of the best around." Rebecca motioned Amy over to another computer and opened a list of software. "Video, archives, face recognition, voice recognition, video manipulation, we've got it all."

"Hold on, isn't some of this stuff illegal?"

Rebecca smiled and switched off the computer. "That's why you aren't going to tell anyone." Amy raised her eyebrows. "If we followed the law all the time, then how much do you think we'd get done?"

"Point taken."

"Alright, then, I think that's all we need to do in here, come on." Rebecca started toward the door, but stopped when she realized only two people were following her. "Doctor!"

"What?" He looked up from where he was giddily working with the computer. When he realized exactly how into it he'd been, he looked embarrassed and switched of the computer. "Right, sorry."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Right, then, off we go." She led them down the hallway and to doors that read **Laboratory. **She swiped her security pass and led them into a gigantic room. People bustled around, liquids bubbled, electricity fizzled, and there were a few explosions from one of the far corners.

"This is where we work on experiments," Lily explained. "Some medical emergencies are also taken care of in here, though, if all the medical bays are full."

"Maybe I should help them with a few experiments," the Doctor said thoughtfully.

"Or maybe you'd better stay out of it so that they don't get any technology way beyond our time. We don't want anything like Torchwood London happening again," Rebecca pointed out gently.

The Doctor's face darkened. "Yeah, that's true," he said quietly. He glanced around the room. "Is this a Torchwood, though?"

"Not technically, but we're thinking about possibly asking if we could become an official branch. We basically do all the same things, so it's just the technicalities that keep us from being one. It's kind of nice not being part of a big organization, though. Call us freelancers." Lily smiled.

"Wait, so if you've been in contact with Torchwood, have you spoken with Captain Jack Harkness?"

Rebecca smirked. "I certainly have. Quite a charmer."

"That's putting it mildly," the Doctor muttered.

"Why, do you know him?" Lily asked curiously.

"We traveled together briefly, and our paths have crossed a couple times since then," he said, waving his hand nonchalantly. "Although we've met a couple more times than he's aware of, yet. Complications of time travel, and complications of the impossible man himself."

"Impossible?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not my story to tell. It's Jack's decision to tell people, not mine."

Lily piped up. "He seems nice enough, though."

"For all of Jack's flirtatiousness, I have to admit, he's got a level head and a heart of gold." The Doctor smiled. "He's good in a crisis, he does what he knows is right, even though I know the decisions kill him sometimes." He snickered subtly when he realized the unintentional pun he'd put in the sentence.

The tour continued with medical bays, offices, shaking of hands and more. The Doctor was proud of Rebecca for how well she'd taken charge of her life, and he was proud of Lily for taking so much responsibility and working well with it.

Amy watched the Doctor throughout the tour. She noticed how his eyes softened and his chest swelled up with pride, especially when Lily was explaining what was going on. She couldn't believe he could still keep his decision to not tell Lily who she was when he was so obviously proud of her.

_But, _she thought to herself, _no secret can be kept forever._

_

* * *

_

**A/N: yeah, so I didn't know how to end the chapter, so I decided to bring in the title of the story. Clever, huh? Yeah not really. I wasn't planning on bringing Jack into this, but now that I brought him up, I'm thinking maybe he could make an appearance in a later chapter? Tell me your thoughts if you like. Besides that, yup, filler-ish chapter, but I'm still working out ideas so this is kind of weird while I'm writing. Any mistakes, tell me and I'll try to fix them :) I hope you're enjoying!**


	9. The Calm Before the Storm

As Rebecca and the Doctor engaged in a complicated, very complicated and intelligent sounding conversation, Lily nudged Amy.

"Hey, want to go to the shooting range?" She asked excitedly.

"Uh, sure, I guess, as long as it's fine with your mom and the Doctor."

"Oh, Mom's always fine with me going down there, and as for the Doctor…" She shrugged. "Seeing how he feels about guns, better not to bring it up, you know?"

Amy hesitated another moment, turning toward the Doctor, before turning back and spreading her hands out with a smile. "Well then, let's do it!"

After a brief crash course on guns, Amy stood, eyeing them suspiciously, not really sure where to start. "You know a lot about these, don't you?"

"I had gun training, it's required for members, and even though I'm not technically a member, I essentially am, and Mom wanted me to have the same training as everyone else." She grinned. "I'm a pretty good shot, too."

"Well, then, let's see!" Amy replied, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms over her chest.

Lily smirked. "I'll take that as a challenge!" She picked up the gun closest to her, checked that it was loaded, flicked of the safety, and spun toward the target. After a split second of aiming, she fired the gun, leaving a whole right in the center of the target.

Amy was impressed. "Wow."

"Now let's see what you can do." She put the gun back on the table and walked over to Amy. "Ever fired a gun before?"

"No."

"Well, then, just remember what I told you, and ask questions if you need to." She picked another gun up and handed it over. "Here, let's start with this one."

Amy stared at it. "Uh…"

Lily walked forward and began guiding her into position, patiently narrating what she was doing. "One handed. Body sideways, bring the arm up slowly, look down your arm at the target, and fire when you're ready." She stepped back. Amy felt a brief moment of panic. Lily looked at her and must have noticed. "Don't tense up. Just relax. I'm right here, nothing will go wrong."

Amy took a deep breath to calm herself and then pulled the trigger. The gun jumped in her hand and her bullet hole appeared on the target, not even close to Lily's, but on the target nevertheless. After a moment she became aware of Lily cheering and laughing in the background. She walked up and patted her on the shoulder.

"Great job! A lot of people don't even hit the target on their first try!"

"Did you?"

She grinned cheekily. "Yeah, but that's not the point."

Amy set the gun back on the table with the rest. "You respect the Doctor a lot, don't you?"

Lily fingered the handle of a gun. "Yeah, I do. He's like the father I've never had."

Amy felt a pang of guilt for not telling her the truth. Instead she went on to her original question. "Does it feel strange using guns when you know how opposed he is against them?"

Lily picked up the gun, running her finger down the barrel, and then set it down again. "I don't know, I guess maybe a little. Diplomacy is the best choice in theory, but not always in practice. Sometimes guns are necessary." She thought for a moment. "I guess essentially we believe the same thing. Guns should only be used for a last choice scenario. I think the difference is our definitions of what a last choice is."

"Do you think he's wrong?"

She smiled. "It's not that I think he's wrong, not really. Maybe he's a bit too optimistic, maybe he overestimates sentient beings' ability to see reason."

Amy chuckled. "Well, I think he has trouble with that himself."

Lily laughed. "I can't argue with that, although I bet he would."

"Oi! You two talking about me?" Lily and Amy looked up to see Rebecca and the Doctor standing in the doorway.

"And if we were?" Lily asked innocently.

"Then I want to know what you were saying."

"Sorry, no can do. But I will say that it wasn't anything bad," Amy said.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well that narrows it down," he muttered sarcastically.

"Well it should!" Lily piped up. When he turned to glare at her, she held up her hands, laughing. "Kidding!"

"Well, it's not funny," he grumbled.

"You're pouting!" Amy laughed.

"Am not!" he protested sulkily.

"Sure!" Lily said sarcastically, elongating the word.

Rebecca smiled. "Now, girls," she said mildly.

The Doctor turned to her. "You know, you're not making it very clear whose side you're on."

Rebecca laughed. Lily bounced up to her excitedly. "Did we get any interesting alerts today?"

She shook her head. "No, everything's quiet. But Tim says that it reminds him of the calm before a storm."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked. She glanced at the Doctor, whose brow was furrowed.

"She means that it might be an indication that something big is coming."

"What, like a war?" she asked, surprised.

"It's a possibility," he said seriously. He glanced at Rebecca. "I think it might be a good idea to stay around a little longer."

Amy glanced at Lily, who looked like she was having trouble deciding whether to be worried or excited. Amy found herself feeling basically the same way. She couldn't help but wonder how this might change her life forever.

* * *

**A/N: another semi-successful fillerish chapter. :P anyway, apologies for being away so long! (if you already have read on another story why I've been away, skip this part. I don't say anything new.) I forced myself to quit fanfiction for a little bit to try to concentrate on grades and school work, but as of May 28, 2010, I am officially done with this year of school! *cheering* and I've missed writing so much that I had to go to fanfiction immediately.**

**So, a few things to say about this chapter: any names of people are completely irrelevant to anything and are simply what I decided to call the people when I decided I needed a name to call someone. That actually goes for the entire story. The shooting range scene was inspired by the scene in Torchwood, without the sexual tension XP Also, I still am not exactly sure what I'm doing with the plot. I'm winging it XD I'm thinking there might be a party somewhere, not really sure how to make that happen, but I have something that I'm just dying to put in, but I don't know where. Beyond that, I just hope that you enjoyed, and I apologize for the long author's note.**


	10. The Man With Endless Suffering

**Warning: Spoilers for Torchwood Season 3: Children of the Earth.**

"And when is this?" Rebecca said into the phone. "Mmhmm." she glanced over at Lily and the Doctor, who were bent over a chessboard, staring at it intently. "And all the organized groups will be there?"

Lily moved a piece. "Check."

The Doctor grumbled and moved his king out of check. Lily examined the board before smiling widely and moving another piece, throwing her arms up in the air triumphantly.

"Check mate!"

"No way!"

Rebecca covered her free ear with one hand and grimaced as she tried to hear the person on the other line. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Check mate," Lily repeated, smirking.

"But that's impossible!" the Doctor stared at the board, trying to find some way the win was invalid.

"I beg to differ," Lily replied, raising her eyebrows and nodding towards the chessboard. "All the evidence is right there."

"You must have cheated," he exclaimed accusingly.

"Nope, I won fair and square." She smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.

"But you can't have!" he insisted loudly.

"Excuse me a moment." Rebecca lowered the phone and covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "Oi! KIDS! Either pipe down or take your racket somewhere else, or I promise you'll regret it!" She glared at them menacingly, and Lily and the Doctor guiltily – and silently – slunk out of the room.

"I'm over 900 years old, and she called me a KID," he whispered reproachfully.

"Well you're acting like one," Lily whispered back. She snickered when the Doctor glared at her.

"Where's Amy?" the Doctor asked once they were a safe distance away from Rebecca's wrath.

"Probably off chasing Smokey somewhere, she loves her." At that moment, Amy walked up, her arms full of a bundle of fur.

"Hey, I thought you were playing chess," she greeted them.

"We were, until Lily cheated and Rebecca kicked us out of the kitchen," the Doctor replied, scowling at Lily. She rolled her eyes

"Correction: I won fair and square, the Doctor caused an uproar because he's a sore loser, and Mum was sick of trying to hear her business call over his complaints so she threatened us and we ran for our lives."

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm trying to figure out if there was one part of that sentence that was accurate."

Lily jerked her head in his direction, grinning. "See what I mean?" The Doctor glared at her.

Rebecca came out, sighing. "I need an office to handle business calls at home..." she muttered. She looked at the Doctor and Lily, who looked slightly scared of her. She sighed again. Sorry about that, but I really did need to get that sorted, and you two weren't exactly being quiet."

"It's okay..." Lily said warily. She still seemed convinced that Rebecca was going to yell at them again. Rebecca smiled at her daughter.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to blow a fuse or anything."

"So what was the phone call about?" The Doctor seemed a bit distracted, as if he was thinking of something else.

"There's been a meeting arranged for all of the alien-related organizations. Not too far from here," Rebecca explained.

"Mmm, sounds interesting. Any idea who's coming?" the Doctor asked absently.

"Representatives from pretty much all branches of UNIT, a small organization from up in Norway, a few scattered ones in Asia, Africa, and North and South America, and then each of the operational Torchwood branches."

The Doctor's head snapped up. "Torchwood?"

"Well, we're not sure about Torchwood 2, but Torchwood 3 has confirmed. There aren't any other ones that are operational."

"So... will Jack be there?" The Doctor seemed overly upset.

"Yes, Captain Harkness was the one who confirmed that they'd be there." Rebecca looked at the Doctor, confused. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"When's the last time that you spoke to Jack?"

Rebecca thought. "Probably a few years ago. Why? Doctor, why aren't you telling me what's wrong?"

The Doctor smiled sadly. "I'm worried. I don't know what to expect from him."

Rebecca sighed exasperatedly. "Doctor, I know Captain Harkness can be an incorrigible flirt and over the top sometimes, but I'm sure he knows how to act professional at a mee-"

"It's not that."

"Then what?"

The Doctor was silent for a moment, searching for the words. "How... how much do you know about the events that happened about a year back? With the 456?"

Rebecca shrugged. "Not a whole lot. Obviously I came into contact with the issue since it was worldwide, and I found out later that Torchwood 3 had handled it and saved the children. I was just grateful that Lily was older than the children affected," she said, glancing at her daughter

"Well that's the gist of it, I guess. But everyone suffered during those days. Jack most of all." The Doctor's face was pained. "The suffering he went through – it's hard to even imagine what that could feel like."

"What happened?" Lily whispered. The other two women were listening intently. None of them knew this story.

"Jack had dealings with the 456 before. The government was trying to get rid of anyone who had. They lured Jack into a place where they could kill him and then put a bomb inside him. He's immortal, you knew that, right?"

"I'd heard rumors. It's really true?" Rebecca asked incredulously.

"One hundred percent. It's very... complicated. Anyway, he managed to find out about the bomb in time to get both of the other Torchwood members out of the Hub and to safety. After that, it was all about trying to figure out what was going on, and trying to stop it. His family – his daughter and grandson – were taken hostage.

"He went with one of the other Torchwood members to stand up to the 456 at Thames House. Jack has always thought of all of his team as a family, and loves them all, but this member was different. Ianto Jones. Jack's lover.

"They couldn't win that. The 456 released a toxin into the air, poisoning and killing everyone inside Thames House. Including Ianto." The Doctor paused and looked at his friends' horrified faces before continuing the story.

"Jack was placed under arrest, but the other remaining Torchwood member, Gwen Cooper, went to see Ianto's sister, to break the news. She was running a safe-house for the children, and when officers came, Gwen helped her keep them safe.

"They released Jack's daughter and grandson, but they realized that they really needed Jack to beat this. They brought him out of prison, and he did figure out how to stop them. There had been a man from the first dealing with the 456 that had a psychic link with them, and a frequency had killed him. Jack figured out that if they broadcasted that same frequency, it would kill the 456. But saving all the children in the world came at a terrible price, because there was only one available child for Jack to broadcast through." The Doctor stopped, his face twisting with the pain of the story.

"Who?" Rebecca asked.

"His grandson." The Doctor's pain-filled eyes flickered to each of his companions', seeing the pain mirrored there.

"So Jack Harkness did what he did best: saved the world, no matter what the cost. But he was a broken man. The last time I saw him, he was in a bar, trying to drink away the memories of his dead lover, the grandson he'd killed, and his daughter who he'd estranged himself from. I did what I could for him, but I don't know what he'll be like."

"I can't even imagine doing that." Rebecca's voice was filled with sadness mingled with horror.

"Jack's had more than his fair share of pain. The curse of being immortal." The Doctor smiled a smile with no humor in it. "The curse of living too long. I can understand that." Amy reached over and squeezed the Doctor's hand. He smiled at her and then straightened his shoulders, composing himself.

"Now, we've got a meeting to prepare for." He turned to walk into the house, and then paused and turned around again. "When you see Jack, don't mention any of this to him. If he wants to talk about it, he will. And I can't imagine it's not still a sore subject." Then he turned back and walked into the house, leaving everyone to ponder the life of a man with endless suffering.

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**A/N: I have a thousand excuses and apologies for not updating, but you don't want to hear them, so I'll just say sorry and get on with it. So, sorry.**

**Anyway. Yes, after I brought up Jack that first time, I had to work him into the story somehow. And after the light-hearted beginning of this chapter, it just sort of turned into an angst fest. So, sorry, that really wasn't intentional.**

**I wasn't even sure if the Doctor was going to tell them Jack's story before they saw him, but I kinda found it necessary, so there it is.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, please leave comments/reviews and I'm very, very sorry for not updating!**

**It's been a summer of low inspiration.**


	11. Dress vendetta

"Hurry up, ladies, or we'll be late!" the Doctor shouted down the hallway.

"You have a TIME MACHINE," Rebecca called back exasperatedly. "Can't you just make sure we get there on time?"

"But being late is so much better for dramatic entrances!" Rebecca stuck her head out of the door to glare at him. "All right, all right, I'll try to get us there on time."

"Although with your landings we'll be lucky to get there in a month," Amy teased. She pushed one last bobby pin into her hair and tried to look at it in the mirror, her knee-length red dress swishing around her legs as she did so. "There, I'm ready."

Lily came down the hallway still fussing with her hair. She was wearing a v-neck green tank top tucked into a blue knee-length skirt, belted at the waist with a wide black elastic belt. "I HATE doing my hair for special occasions, I'm terrible at it."

"Lily, dear, just leave it. I'll be there in a moment to fix whatever disaster you've managed to create."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Mum," she shouted back sarcastically.

"My pleasure," the teasing tone replied.

"Nice dress," the Doctor said complimentarily.

"Thanks!" Lily beamed at him.

"Hey, what about mine?" Amy said, pretending to pout.

"Yes, yes, yours is lovely too."

"Just not as nice as mine," Lily laughed, nudging her.

"But Lily, don't you think you might be dressed a little casual?"

She shrugged. "I don't care."

"Well, won't your mother?"

"So?"

The Doctor gave up. "Well, if you're willing to brave your mother's wrath?"

"I've had plenty of practice, I'm good at it."

Amy glanced down to Lily's feet. "Nice shoe choice."

"Thanks!" She turned up her ankle so they could admire them better. "I love these boots! They're much more practical than heels, but still dressy enough to wear to more formal events without Mum complaining."

"Do you have something against dressing up?" the Doctor asked.

"Maybe a little." She grinned at him.

Rebecca appeared with a handful of bobby pins. She sighed when she saw the pile of hair that passed for Lily's hairdo. "Oh, Lily, you're hopeless. Come sit down at the table, I'll fix that for you."

"Thanks." She smiled sheepishly.

Rebecca smiled at the other two standing in the house. "I'm glad to see neither of you need damage control too."

Amy laughed and the Doctor smiled. "You look lovely, Rebecca," he said.

"Thank you, Doctor. I'd feel honored, but I heard you compliment the other two as well, so I think it's more of a trend."

"Well, if telling the truth can be considered a trend, then I suppose that could apply."

"We can discuss the finer points of language and truths and trends later, right now I have to deal with the mess that Lily apparently calls her hair." She turned to her daughter and held up a brush and comb, pretending to threaten her with it. Lily laughed.

"Stop it! You're such a strange person!"

"Well, you had to get it from somewhere, didn't you? Now stop moving around and sit down so that I can attempt to tackle that horrible monstrosity on top of your head." She grabbed Lily's hair and started to brush it out.

"Why do I have to do this? I hate these stuffy social events. Why do I have to work that hard to look nice for a room of people I've never even met?" Lily griped.

Rebecca whacked her lightly on the head with the hairbrush. "Because you're representing our organization, and you want to give them a good impression. If only for your poor mother's sake."

"Fine," Lily grumbled irritably as her mother continued to untangle her hair. "I hate having to do my hair all nice," she complained.

"But you have to do it, so won't you shut up about it already?" Rebecca frowned at the back of her daughter's head and rolled her eyes at the Doctor.

A few minutes later, Rebecca was putting finishing touches onto Lily's hair. "Well that's acceptable, at least," she said, eyeing it critically. "Knowing you, though, you'll probably pull it out the first chance you get."

Lily grimaced. "It's too tight." She reached her hand up toward her hair.

Rebecca slapped her hand away. "It'll loosen, don't you dare touch it. I don't want to do damage control again."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "Fine." She folded her arms at looked at her mother impatiently. "So can we go now, or do we have to keep criticizing what I chose to do with how I look?"

"We should probably get going, I can't promise punctuality, after all," the Doctor said.

"We can always dream." Rebecca smiled at him and walked out. Lily grabbed a shoulder bag off of the table and followed her out.

They walked out to the TARDIS and got on board.

"Looks like you've done some redecorating," Lily commented.

"Yeah, well, she goes through a lot, this old ship." He patted the control board affectionately. "It'll just take a second to set the coordinates, and then we'll be set to go." He flipped some switches and pushed a few buttons, pulled a lever, and they took flight.

When they landed, the doors opened and they walked out, with just barely enough room between the door and the wall of the building to get out. The entryway was just a few feet to the left.

"Couldn't have gotten a better parking space!" the Doctor said enthusiastically.

"We'll say it's the Gallifreyan equivalent of the luck of the Irish," Rebecca said.

"Oy, watch it!" he said indignantly. "It's years of experience!"

"Then why does that experience come into play so seldomly?"

"Well, landings are boring if they turn out right every time anyhow."

"Oh, stop bickering, you two. Let's go in." Amy started over towards the door. The rest followed her into a spacious entry hall, with helpful arrows pointing the way.

"Well, would you look at that, we've arrived early," the Doctor said, glancing at the clock. He turned to Rebecca. "Trust me now?"

"No." She turned and walked down the hall. The Doctor turned to the other two girls and shrugged hopelessly.

"Well, at least she's honest," Amy said.

Lily snickered. "Come on, Doctor, you know she's only joking with you. Now let's go, if we stay here and chitchat, we actually will be late." They followed Rebecca down the hallway, caught up with her, and then the group traveled on to the large meeting area.

Tables filled the room. Most of the tables were completely filled up with people. There was a stage at the far end of the room for speakers, and a microphone on each table for any questions that would need to be asked. It looked like the largest board meeting ever.

"Well, we'd better find a place to sit, hadn't we?" Rebecca said, glancing around the room.

"Well, if the Doctor wouldn't mind terribly much," a voice behind them said, startling them all, "you could come sit with me."

The Doctor turned around slowly and saw, standing there behind him, none other than Captain Jack Harkness.

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**A/N: AHHH I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long! First there was life, then there was NaNoWriMo, then there was life again! I actually started this chapter before NaNoWriMo, and I've been slowly chipping away at it since.**

**So. Hey guess what! I brought Jack into the story!**

**But here's the thing. I haven't gotten any feedback on this story for a while, which is really discouraging. So I'll stop posting this story if no one cares about it, even though I'm starting to get to the point where stuff will actually happen, but if people actually respond, I'll continue it.**

**SO PLEASE! If you have absolutely ANY interest in this story, please comment, and tell me, and then I'll continue it! Because if no one cares, I don't even know if it would be worth writing. I certainly have more constructive things to do than writing a story that no one cares about.**

**SO I BEG YOU. If you care about this story at all, please tell me that. And if you want, tell me something you'd like to see happen, I always love getting ideas from people.**

**Also, I apologize for the stupid title of this chapter. I couldn't think of ANYTHING.**

**Okay, that's it for now, see you all later! If not with this story, hopefully with another one!**


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